Crack Ruins Some, Scares Many Cocaine Derivative Creates Addicts In All Economic Levels Of County

July 27, 1986|By Al Truesdell of The Sentinel Staff

DAYTONA BEACH — Rusty was a successful salesman with a wife and three children when he started using ''crack'' cocaine.

In three months, he spent his life savings of $30,000, quit his job, lost 40 pounds and alienated his family. His wife, tired of his bouts of isolation, deteriorating health, uncontrollable mood swings and scared by death threats from drug dealers, filed for divorce.

Five months after he stopped using what law officers say is the most dangerous drug in society today, Rusty is still recovering from his addiction to crack -- a rocklike form of cocaine that can be smoked.

He is one of many victims in the Daytona Beach area who fall prey to the drug which police nationwide say has created a problem of ''epidemic'' proportions.

The highly addictive crack, which earned its name because it pops or crackles when smoked, has replaced marijuana and cocaine powder as the drug of choice from wealthy professionals to poor inner city youth.

Daytona Beach Police Sgt. Tim O'Brien said it is the most popular drug on the streets. ''It is the most serious drug problem today.''

Police blame crack for increasing violent crimes. Florida Attorney General Jim Smith and U.S. Sen. Lawton Chiles are calling for tougher laws against the drug, which has been the focus of national media attention.

Daytona Beach police say the crack problem here is a reflection of the nationwide trend. The drug is sold on street corners, primarily in lower income neighborhoods, said O'Brien, head of the department's narcotics division.

But while police have made crack enforcement a priority, they complain they don't have the resources to wipe out the problem in the city that attracts tourists, transients and college students.

The four detectives assigned to drug investigations are not nearly enough to halt the flow of street-level crack sales, said Capt. Barry Neall, supervisor of detectives.

Some police officers blame city officials for failing to fund additional officers to focus on the crack problem. They complain that city hall has not taken the problem seriously enough because it has not provided police with enough resources to fight crack, which has soared in popularity during the past year.

Police in recent months have busted several crack or rock houses -- homes with smoking rooms where the drug can be sampled and bought. Because of these efforts, dealers have gone to the streets or they change houses every month or two.

Deals are made regularly in the low-income, black-populated area of the city. The corner of Bellevue Avenue and Campbell Street and the 800 block of Second Avenue are two of the most common places where crack is sold.

While the crack epidemic worsens statewide and nationally, law officers say they are starting to have an effect on the problem in the unincorporated areas of Volusia County.

More than 100 city, county, state and federal drug investigators on June 26 raided a one-block area southwest of DeLand that was infested with dealers and users of crack and arrested 15 people and seized $20,000 worth of cocaine.

Volusia County Sheriff's Capt. Ed Carroll said the bust has created a climate of fear among drug dealers in that Spring Hill area, who no longer peddle crack openly.

The cocaine was introduced to Volusia County by Haitians and an organized network of drug dealers known as the Miami Boys.

Police in other cities in Volusia County say they have noticed the spread in the use of the drug.

''There has been a dramatic increase within the last couple of months,'' said Cpl. Richard Hedges, an Ormond Beach police investigator.

''We had barely heard of the drug six months ago,'' said DeLand police Chief Richard Slaughter. ''Now it is upon us.''

Crack has become the drug of choice on the streets for a variety of reasons:

-- It can be bought in smaller amounts at cheaper prices than powdered cocaine. A pea-size piece of crack sells for as little as $10, while cocaine powder sells for about $100 a gram.

Crack is made by adding water and baking soda to cocaine and burning off the excess liquid until it turns into a tan, waxlike substance that is cut into pieces and smoked in pipes or aluminum cans. O'Brien said crack resembles chips of soap.

Dealers make more money because crack is cocaine mixed with baking powder and water, so it can be stretched further than powdered cocaine.

-- Crack is easy to use. It can be smoked in a pipe or a metal can without the dangers of free basing, another way of using cocaine. Free basing, mixing cocaine with ether and heating it, can cause explosions and fire. Comedian Richard Pryor was severely burned free basing cocaine several years ago.

-- Crack is purer than powdered cocaine -- which usually is diluted with other substances -- and because it is smoked, it reaches the brain much quicker than snorting cocaine through the nose or injecting it with a needle. It can cause an intense high in a matter of seconds.